


Rayllum Birthday Bash 2020

by Solid_Scribe



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Belly Dancing, Character Death, Children of Characters, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Idiots in Love, Marriage Proposal, Married Life, Meeting the Parents, Pregnancy, Rayllum Birthday Bash 2020, Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 7,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25011622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solid_Scribe/pseuds/Solid_Scribe
Summary: In celebration of Callum and Rayla's birthdays, I am taking part in wordswithdragons' month long Rayllum Birthday Bash. Every other day, I will be posting a new one-shot for the entire month. I hope you all enjoy.
Relationships: Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ethari/Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Lain/Tiadrin (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 49
Kudos: 114





	1. Anniversary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wordswithdragons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordswithdragons/gifts).



> This is my first time posting to AO3 and it's my first time in nearly 2 years posting any fan fiction. I'm hoping my writing hasn't suffered too much. The one-shots won't be very long as I'm trying to get back into writing, but I'm hoping that they'll lead to more stories, which I'll go into more detail.

With a pleased sigh, Callum placed his cup down as the last of the dinner’s wine made its way to his stomach. Gazing across the table, the prince looked into the amethyst eyes of his wife, former Moonshadow elven assassin Rayla. For the past 10 years she had been Princess Rayla and so much had changed since the battle at Storm Spire. After the battle, Rayla helped to rebuild the Dragonguard while Callum traveled around Xadia with Ibis, learning more Sky magic and even connecting to more Primal Sources. They were able to defeat Viren and Aaravos, and capture Claudia. Eventually, however, things had to come to an end. On Callum’s 18th birthday the two returned to Katolis, and were married three months later. For the first few years of their marriage, the two traveled around as ambassadors helping to restore peace in the five kingdoms and continue to broker peace with Xadia. Eventually, they moved to the northern area of Katolis as Archduke and Archduchess. As the capital city of the kingdom was in the southern part, Ezran felt better having them watch over the northern cities and towns as his regents.

Over the seven years that they had been living in the snowy northern city Hartho, the two had worked hard to make the city one of the most advanced cities in the kingdom. Callum had restructured the city and made improvements to the living conditions for the citizens. Rayla had taken charge of the northern forces and made them into one of the deadliest fighting forces in the kingdom. The city had tripled in size and was now the second largest city in the kingdom and the premier place to spend the winter solstice.

“I’d say this has been quite an enjoyable anniversary, wouldn’t you?” Callum asked his wife.

The two had never been into being flashy; instead, they preferred to be more practical. Their own residence was only a fourth the size of the castle and it was only that big to host large parties when several guests were visiting at once. In truth, they could have gone with something even smaller. Every year, for their anniversary, they gave their servants the day off and would spend the day in the city. As they wandered the streets, the royal couple would take note of what had changed, if something needed to be improved or repaired, see how relations were between humans and the city’s small elf community, and just enjoy a day of nearly no responsibilities.

“That it has,” Rayla agreed. “Hard to believe that just a few short years ago this was really nothing more than a fort with a small town. Now, it’s one of the most important cities in the kingdom and it’s all thanks to a dumb human,” she finished with a grin.

“True, I may be a dumb human,” Callum began with his own grin, “but you were the one who asked me to marry you.”

“And I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“Never,” he agreed before leaning over and giving her a kiss.


	2. Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistakes come in all shapes and sizes. Most of them are accidents and catch us by surprise.

“You ass!” The voice of his dear wife shouted at him as a vase sailed through the air and shattered as it hit the wall next to him.

“Rayla, please! Let’s talk about this!” Callum tried to reason with the distraught elf.

“Oh, now you want to talk? Fine! Let’s talk about how you screamed and fainted!”

Callum mentally sighed to himself. A few hours ago Rayla had surprised him with the news that she was pregnant, and Callum’s response had been to gasp; he didn’t scream, and faint. When he came to, he learned from his father-in-law Ethari that fainting after such an announcement was considered taboo in Elven society. Elves had harshly low birthrates, so when a woman announced she was expecting, it was considered rude if her husband fainted.

‘I knew she’d be pissed, but I didn’t think she’d be this mad,’ the Prince thought.

Before his wife could pick something else up to throw at him, or stab him, Callum crossed over to her and took Rayla’s hands in his own.

“Ray, I’m sorry I fainted,” he began, looking her in the eyes. “I didn’t pass out because I was thinking this was bad or unfortunate, but rather surprise. Just barely a week ago we decided to try and have children, when we didn’t even know if it would be possible for us to have kids. I was thinking this announcement would come years from now and not a week later. However, whether it comes now or years later, I will always want this.” Callum ended his speech by pulling his wife close and gently giving her a kiss.

As he kissed her, Callum could feel the tension in Rayla’s body release.

“Okay, sorry about throwing the vase at you,” she apologized when Callum broke the kiss. “I guess the babies are already messing with my hormones,” she added as she hugged him close.

“Babies?” Callum asked.

“Didn’t I tell you? We’re having nonuplets.”


	3. Travel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla is curious about her new home, she's moving to.

The air was cold and growing colder as their horses climbed the mountain path, making Rayla thankful for the heavy wool cloak.

“Have you ever been to where we are going?” She asked her husband, looking over at him.

“Sorry, but no,” Callum replied. “I have heard of Hartho, however. After humans were exiled to the west and war erupted, Hartho was founded as part of Katolis’ northern defense as it’s close to Duren and Del Bar. Once peace was established, it began to fall a little into disrepair; it’s nowhere near the Breach so it wasn’t needed.”

“So, why are we moving there?” Rayla asked, seeking clarification.

“With how things are in the Pentarchy at the moment and with how large Katolis is, Ez thought it would be for the best if he had a voice in the north. Normally, this would have been given to one of the other nobles as I’m technically Ez’s crown prince. He knows that isn’t a life I want and knows that I won’t try and soften the situation here to gain favor with him. After mom’s death, dad was so busy focusing on Thunder that he let a few things in parts of the Kingdom slip up a bit. We’re going to be fixing that; Ez wants Hartho to be reestablished as a northern fortress and a testing ground.”

“A testing ground?”

“Have you noticed how cold it is, even though it’s a week away from summer?” Callum asked, looking around them as the horse plowed through the snow. “Once summer is here proper it’ll warm up, but imagine what the height of winter is like around here.”

Rayla considered what her husband told her. It was cold enough for a good amount of snow to still be on the trail this close to summer. Winter would be living beast!

Seeing that his wife seemed to get it, Callum continued, “When I was training in Xadia, I took in everything I could, not just magic. I watched how cities functioned; their infrastructure and facilities. I was able to come up with some human variants for a few of them that should help improve life. Hartho is to be the city where we try these changes. If they prove successful, Ezran will be looking to convert the whole kingdom.”

“Do you think it’ll work?”

“I have no idea,” he replied honestly. “We had a team of builders and craftsmen come ahead of us to start laying the groundwork three months ago. Hopefully, we can get some of the changes done before winter arrives.”

As the two rounded a bend in the path, Callum called out, “There it is,” gesturing to the small city that was still several miles away from them.

“It looks small,” Rayla said as she looked at the city, noting its various towers.  
“Yeah,” he replied in agreement. “It’s not even half the size of city where we met Villads. Under our leadership though, the city will grow and become a shining jewel of Katolis.”

Rayla smiled at her husband’s words, and set off with him to see their new home.


	4. Cooking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum tries his hand at cooking Rayla's favorite dish.

“All right, this shouldn’t be too difficult,” Callum said to himself as he placed the elven cookbook on the kitchen counter.

The young archduke wanted to surprise his wife with her favorite treat, Moonberry Surprise. He had written to her fathers to get the recipe as the dish was a closely guarded Moonshadow secret. Ethari and Runaan had sent him a small cookbook with specific instructions that the dish was to be cooked in the traditional elven way. Of course, the book happened to be in elvish too, so after a couple of weeks of translating Callum had finally gotten the recipe. Now, it was time to cook.

It wasn’t Rayla’s birthday, or their anniversary, and it was several weeks until the next big holiday for the kingdom and city. Callum wanted to make this purely for the unexpected joy it would bring to Rayla, and he was going to make it himself. So, after shooing away the kitchen staff, he began checking the ingredient supplies.

_Honestly, I know my way around the kitchen. Do they think I’m some hopeless noble who doesn’t even know how to boil water?_ he thought as he brought an armful of ingredients over. Shaking the thought from his mind, Callum set about his task and started following the instructions.

Everything was going well, until Callum missed a crucial step in the cooking process. Once the alcohol-soaked moonberries have reached the boiling point, let them boil for only a minute before placing them in an oven, at eighty degrees. The missing piece would have told him to drain the alcohol first, as alcohol-soaked moonberries become rather explosive.

Rayla was walking down the corridor, looking over the proposal for the city’s first public school when the explosion happened. She was just about to arrive at the intersection to turn down towards the kitchen or continue on to her and Callum’s office. The explosion shook the ground and sounded like metal being ripped like paper. Less than a fraction of a second later, a blur whizzed past her face and embedded itself into the stone wall. Calming her heart rate, she looked to see that is was the door to the main oven in the kitchen.

Dropping the papers, she rushed to the kitchen and discovered her husband standing several yards from the oven; covered in what appeared to be moonberries. He appeared to be in a daze, and wasn’t focusing on anything specific. After a moment, he seemed to realize that she was there.

“Surprise?” he dazedly offered.

If Callum hadn’t passed out right then, Rayla would have found the situation funny. Instead, she picked up her husband and carried him to their room before summoning the doctor. In the back of her mind, she made a note to never let him cook without her supervision.


	5. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At any age, one can have a nightmare.

Rayla could feel herself falling as she slowly opened her eyes. Her vision came into focus as she realized that was exactly what was happening. The former Moonshadow assassin found herself falling from an even greater height than that of the Storm Spire. Trying to calm herself, Rayla looked around as best she could, looking for Callum.

 _Where is he?_ she thought as despair slowly began to fill her.

Try as she might, Rayla couldn’t find her husband. Callum wasn’t falling with her or flying to save her. The more she realized the hopelessness of her situation, the faster she plummeted to the ground. Until, just before hitting the ground, she thought, _GOODBYE!!_ to herself and waited for the impact.

Rayla’s eyes snapped open wild and full as her heart raced. She looked around the room. Though it was night, it might as well have been the middle of the day for her. Seeing everything clearly, Rayla realized she was safe; she was in her bedchamber, Callum was asleep next to her with his arm wrapped around her, their kids were asleep below them. Everything was fine, everyone was safe. Letting go of a soft sigh, she collapsed her head against her pillow as she deactivated the night vision of her eyes.

 _Idiot_ she berated herself. _You’re a grown woman, a simple falling dream shouldn’t have you jumping out of your skin_. Ever since she’d jumped off the Storm Spire years ago, anytime she had a dream about falling it always affected her. After twenty years, she was starting to get sick of it.

Settling back down, she slowly began to fall asleep once more. Just as she was almost asleep, Rayla felt Callum’s broad arm tighten around her abdomen and pull her a little closer to him.

“I got you, Ray, always,” her husband’s voice rumbled from the darkness.

“Thanks, dummy,” she replied softly before falling into a more pleasant slumber.


	6. Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla teaches Callum a little about the importance of certain Moonshadow dances.

Callum leaned back into the cushions as he waited for Rayla. The two were in Silvergrove to celebrate a big summer holiday; he wasn’t quite sure what the holiday was, as Rayla hadn’t really told him, and for her to show him around her town properly. Now that she was no longer ghosted it was rather nice seeing her village. They spent the afternoon visiting various places, such as the school and the forge. Afterwards, they went to some of the various stalls setting up for the festival. As they wandered around the two would receive varying looks for the others. Some were surprise and shock and seeing a human, while others were disgust at seeing him. Through it all though, Rayla didn’t let it dampen her spirits.

About an hour after what should be sunset (it was kind of hard to tell with the eternal night enchantment on the village), Rayla took him back to the room they were staying in, saying she had a surprise she wanted to show him. When they arrived, she opened the window, allowing them to easily hear the music outside, and pushed him into the pile of cushions. As she left the room to get ready, she told him to relax and get ready to enjoy himself. So he did precisely that.

As he poured himself a second glass of wine, Callum heard the door open. Turning his head, expecting to see Rayla, the young prince got quite the shock. It was indeed Rayla, closing the door, but she was wearing garments he never would have thought she’d wear! Not to say she didn’t look good in them; Rayla made three weeks on the road with limited facilities look good, after all. Starting at the bottom, Callum noticed that her feet were bare, which was unusual, as Rayla was only barefoot for bathing and sleeping. Her feet were covered in silver anklet sandal chains. Next came a white transparent loincloth skirt. The skirt had slits on both sides of her legs that started at her upper hips and went all the way down. However, the material was thin and invisible enough that one could think she wasn’t wearing anything. Going further up, Callum noticed the multiple silver bangles she had on each wrist. Rayla wasn’t wearing a shirt, but a rather colorful white brassiere with silver accents. Over the past four years they had been together, Rayla’s body had become more feminine and nowhere was that more evident than her breasts. At her neck, Callum saw that she was wearing a thick silver choker. Amongst all of these things however, the most surprising was Rayla’s hair. Ever since they had met, Callum had always seen her hair in a braid of some sort; sometimes even multiple braids or large intricate braid designs. That wasn’t the case at the moment. Rayla had her hair completely free and loose. The snow white strands framing her face and falling down her back.

Callum didn’t know what was going on. In fact, all he could do was stare dumbly at her as his face glowed red. Part of his mind told him to look away, but another part told him Rayla wouldn’t do this unless she wanted him to look so looking away would be rude.

“Judging by your expression, you like what you see,” Rayla replied with a soft smirk as she walked towards him, her hips swaying with each step.

Not trusting himself to speak, Callum just nodded his head in the affirmative.

“How long have we been together, Callum?” she asked.

“F-four years,” the prince replied as music from the outside started to play. The tune was long and deep.

As the music played Rayla began to sway and roll her hips, along with moving her shoulders and arms.

“Now, during that four years I’ve taught you a fair amount about Moonshadow culture, wouldn’t you say?”

Once more Callum nodded.

“However, during that time, there’s one subject I always avoided discussing with you. Intimacy. Well, here it is. First lesson, when a girl is interested, very interested, in a guy she gets him alone and gives him a special dance to convey the truth of her feelings.”

At this point, Rayla’s stomach was directly in front of him and moving back and forth as she shook her hips. Looking up at her, his face glowing red, Callum could see Rayla’s own cheeks were starting to darken to a nice shade of lavender.

“Rayla, are you asking me to marry you?” his question tore through him.

Now, the shoe was on the other foot as Rayla didn’t speak, but just nodded.

“Then, yes. Yes. A thousand times yes,” the prince replied.

Her face lighting up in joy, Rayla stopped dancing and fell atop him; capturing his lips in a passionate, heated kiss as the two sprawled out on the floor.


	7. Written in the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum contemplates what could have been.

“What are you thinking about?” a voice behind him asked.

Callum turned his gaze from the stars to see his wife approaching him. The two were on the observational roof of the tower of their house. Smiling softly, the bearded man replied. “Just thinking, L  
love. These past few years have been quite hectic, to say the least. I find myself needing a moment to take it all in and wonder what could have been.”

“What do you mean?” Rayla asked, coming to stand next to her husband, taking his hand in her own.

“What would life had been like if my mother hadn’t been killed? If the Dragon King hadn’t been killed? If Dad had let go of his grief? Would we have even met? Would our children exist? What if I was an elf and you were a human? What if-”

Callum found himself unable to speak as Rayla had pulled him down and locked his lips with her own in a loving kiss. After a moment, she broke the kiss and looked into his eyes.

“Callum, shut up,” she ordered as she took his face in her hands. “If you keep thinking on what could have been, you’ll miss what is. You and I helped bring about a new age of peace between humans and elves. You proved humans can learn primal magic. Hartho is the most advanced city in Katolis with people coming here from all over the Pentarchy to learn. And, you have provided a wonderful home for me and our twenty-five children.”

Callum smirked a little at himself; their children had been quite a shock to him.

“I can honestly tell you,” Rayla continued, “in this world, the next world, or any other world, you are the only one for me.”

Rayla then hugged him close, her muffled voice ending, “And mercy to fate if we are kept apart.”

Callum smiled at his wife’s reasoning. It was true, the two of them didn’t do well apart from each other. When apart, all they could think of was getting back together as quickly as possible and, if need be, removing anything in their way with extreme prejudice.

“Thanks, love,” he replied, breaking the hug and steering them to the stairs. “Let’s head for bed.”

He no longer needed to look at the stars and contemplate his destiny. He knew his destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Out of all of the prompts, this one gave me the most trouble. I just wasn't sure what to write. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it.


	8. Callum's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Rayla's opinion, her husband wants an unusual gift for his birthday.

“I’m sorry, you want what?” Rayla asked her husband with an arched eyebrow, looking at him as though he had grown a second head.

“What?” he asked with a shrug. “You asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told you.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d be wanting to paint me naked!”

“You wouldn’t be naked, you’d be wearing your necklace.”

Ralya shot her husband a soft glare, telling him to not split hairs so finely.

“Okay, you’d be naked,” Callum finally relented. “I just don’t see the problem. I’ve drawn you naked hundreds of times in comparison to the thousands of times I’ve drawn you.”

“Those were all sketches. Small drawings that you kept in your book next to your bed. Plus, making a painting is a big deal. Mistakes cannot be done, unless you can work around them. I just find it weird you would want to work on your birthday.”

“It’s not work if I enjoy it,” he countered. “Plus, you asked me what I wanted and this is what I want.”

“All right let’s do it,” Rayla replied with a sigh, unable to counter Callum’s reasoning.

A few days later Rayla was in Callum’s study, reclined back on the sofa and naked save for the silver necklace he had given her for their first wedding anniversary. The canvas he was using was easily over five feet wide and 4 feet tall. For hours he painted; they had started in the morning, but now the sun was starting to set and he was still adding detail here and there.

“Done!” Callum announced, as he set his brush down, nearly half an hour later.

Rayla stood up, putting her robe on, and walked around to see the painting. Once she rounded the side to see, she stopped and stared at it for a moment.

“Callum, who is this?” She asked confused.

“It’s you.”

“I don’t look anything like this! The woman in this painting looks far more beautiful than I do.”

“Sorry, but no,” He replied as he wrapped his arms around Rayla. “This is you. No detail exaggerated, but presented as you actually are. How I see you.”

Rayla felt her face heat up so much she was surprised it wasn’t on fire.

“Callum? Never get your eyes examined.”


	9. Domesticity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a calm morning at Callum and Rayla's house as they try to get everyone to have some breakfast.

“Give me back my necklace, you ass!”

“This is mine! Keep better track of your own shit!”

“How about both of you, dumbasses-”

“SHUT UP, CASS!!”

As the voices of two of his daughters yelled at a third, Callum slowly opened his eyes. The morning light was just barely starting to trickle in from the window behind the curtain. _Well, so much for an extra few minutes of sleep_ , he thought. “Why did we have children?”

“Because you can’t keep your hands off me,” Rayla mumbled next to him, also trying to get an extra minute of sleep.

“Ah, yes, your sexy ears,” he said with a slight chuckle. “It’s amazing we didn’t have them sooner.”

Even as the pillow smacked him in the face, Callum just laughed it off and sat up in bed before leaning over to give his wife a kiss. For some reason, Rayla was self-conscious about her ears, but Callum always meant what he said. She had incredibly beautiful ears.

Deciding it was time to get up, the archduke got out of bed and tossed his robe on, tying the sash before opening his bedroom door and seeing the quarreling sisters.

“Nia! Petra! Cassandra!” he barked. “It is too early in the morning for your squabbling.”

“She has my necklace!” Petra said first.

“Do not! It’s mine,” Nia replied immediately afterwards.

“Nia, your necklace please,” Callum asked with his hand out stretched.

His 6th daughter quickly placed the necklace in his hand. Callum took a look at it and could tell it was Nia’s.

“You may have your necklace back, Nia,” he said as he handed it back to her. “Now, you and Cass head on down to breakfast. Petra, you stay.”

The two knew to hurry along. With so many people in the castle, Callum normally didn’t bother to have private conversations; twenty-five kids made it kind of impossible.

“Petra, this is the fifth time this month you’ve lost your necklace and the fifth time you’ve accused one of your siblings,” he began as he looked down at his seventh daughter. “You need to learn to ask for help before you start accusing them of being thieves. Accusations like that can get innocent people killed. After breakfast, you are to apologize to your sister and then ask your siblings for help in finding your necklace. If you lose your necklace again and start accusing one of them of taking it, you wall be on stable duty for a month. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.” The small voice of his child replied.

Callum embraced his daughter in a loving hug, kissing the top oh her head before sending her along. “Go get some breakfast and know that I love you.”

As his daughter headed to get herself some breakfast, Callum couldn’t help but think, _Maybe I should have kept my hands off Rayla_. To the surprise of them both, they were able to have children; just not very often and each pregnancy resulted in multiple births. First, they had nonuplets, now known as the nine. Next, were the twins. After them came the girls, an all-female group of sextuplets, who were quickly followed by quadruplets, knows as the first four. A couple of years later they welcomed the second four, also known as the babies, into the world. For each of his children, Callum crafted a custom silver necklace with a ruby pendant. The necklaces were embedded with magic which gave Callum and Rayla their children’s location and emotional state. This was a lifesaver in helping the two keep track of their kids.

_Okay, if the girls are up, the nine should already be up having breakfast and helping the babies with breakfast. The twins are in bed sleeping after a late-night study session and will join us for lunch. Then, that leaves the first four. Time to wake them up._

Callum headed towards his children’s second bed tower, yes second bed tower. As they were the oldest, the nine slept in the second tallest tower in the castle. Each sibling getting their own room, one on top of the other, with Sarai at the top. As the twins were the most intellectually-based of his children, they had a large bedroom directly across from the library. So, the second bed tower housed the others. At the top were Rupa, Cassandra, and Nia, half of the girls. Below them, was Petra, Lucineh, and Zorione, the rest of the girls. Next, came the first four, Yakov, Iohannes, Qillaq, and Elena. Finally, at the lowest level were the babies, Xiuying, Vasili, Ottoline, and Theutrich. Arriving at the intended door, he banged his hand hard against the door to rouse any of his kids who might still be sleeping.

“Yakov! Iohannes! Qillaq! Elena! Breakfast! Get to the dining hall as quickly as possible.”

With that done, the archduke began his own trek to the dining hall. It wasn’t too big a deal if they kept sleeping, as today was the day of rest, so the castle wasn’t busy.

_Rayla, what is the agenda for today?_ He sent his thought to his wife. After the nine were born, Callum researched and developed his own spell that allowed him and Rayla to share their thoughts with each other. Sometimes the two just needed a break from their kids and couldn’t always get to their bedroom.

_Nothing much_ , his wife replied. _Amelia’s been asked on a date, the new troops need inspecting, Marcus and Sarai broke their swords sparring again, Holger’s pregnant tarantula has escaped, the city heaters need checking, and Walter would like to discuss becoming a horologist apprentice with you._

_Is that all?_ He asked, having expected more. _Light load. I’m surprised no one has set fire or blown anything up_ -

The rest of his thought was cut short as an explosion went off in the twins’ bedroom and Khaleesi could be heard yelling at her brother.

_Just an average day in this house_ , he thought as he ran towards the explosion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the names of Callum and Rayla's children along with their gender and age. Also, the list is in the order of their birth.  
> Sarai (female age 15)  
> Marcus (male age 15)  
> Joc (male age 15)  
> Fitzroy (male age 15)  
> Bernard (male age 15)  
> Glaukos (male age 15)  
> Holger (male age 15)  
> Amelia (female age 15)  
> Walther (male age 15)  
> Khaleesi (female age 11)  
> Dimitrij (male age 11)  
> Rupa (female age 8)  
> Cassandra (female age 8)  
> Nia (female age 8)  
> Petra (female age 8)  
> Lucineh (female age 8)  
> Zorione (female age 8)  
> Yakov (male age 7)  
> Iohannes (male age 7)  
> Qillaq (male age 7)  
> Elena (female age 7)  
> Xiuying (female age 5)  
> Vasili (male age 5)  
> Ottoline (female age 5)  
> Theutrich (male age 5)


	10. In-Laws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla calms her husband as Callum panics over his in-laws arrival.

_Years ago_

“Here, dad, you take them,” Rayla said, handing Ethari the three coins that contained her other parents. “We don’t want anything to happen to them and they’d be safest with you.”

“Any idea on how to get them out?” The man asked.

“Sorry, but no,” she replied with a sad shake of her head. “With Viren now dead, we have no way of knowing how the spell worked. Plus, he wasn’t in the habit of leaving notes of his work just lying around. As we travel around, Callum and I will also look for possible alternative solutions to free them sooner.”

_19 Years Later_

Rayla, now thirty-three, sat on the couch in Callum’s study as she watched her husband of fourteen years pace back and forth, wearing a groove into the floor. All morning he had been like this; in fact, he had been a little jumpy ever since Ethari’s letter a couple of days ago. Late one night a week ago, her parents had been freed from the coins, Viren’s magic having dissipated. After a few days of near constant sleeping, the three were more coherent and asking about her. So, Ethari wrote to tell Callum and Rayla he would be bringing them with him for the Winter Feast.

“What are we going to do? What are we going to do?” Callum muttered.

“Callum, will you stop worrying! Everything will be fine.”

“Fine? Fine?!” he exclaimed as he turned to look at her. “Rayla, your parents are arriving for the biggest festival in the city. Not to mention we will be hosting my brother and two foreign dignitaries. The three of them were all sealed by my father’s former high mage. We have no idea how Runaan will react to Ezran still being alive or how any of them will react to us being married. And, don’t even get me started on how we’re going to explain that to them.” he finished, pointing at her.

“What you mean this?” Rayla asked, pointing at her nine-month pregnant belly. Rayla was due to give birth any day now.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Introducing them to one kid would be hard enough, but 21 with more on the way is overwhelming.”

“Well, it’s easy to explain,” she shrugged. “When an elf and a human love each other, or I suppose they don’t have to love each other, just be horny for each other, they hug in a special way. Then, the human puts his stick, or in your case, Cal, log, deep into-”

“OKAY! That’s enough!” Callum interrupted, his face now as red as an apple, as Rayla laughed at his embarrassment. Over the years, Rayla had really loosened up. In the beginning, she was against anything more than hand holding in public. Now, after so many kids, she’d show her affection any way she pleased; not giving a damn what others thought.  
“Perhaps you are right and I am just overthinking this,” he admitted with a sigh.

“Of course, I am,” she replied as she stood up from the couch with practiced ease and walked toward him. “It’s one of the reasons you married me.” Coming to a stop in front of him, Rayla looked up into his eyes and, not for the first time, admired how much taller her husband had become compared to his youth. “Everything will be okay, Cal. Sure, there will be some explaining to do and a few awkward conversations here and there, but nothing that we can’t handle. This is our house, nothing is going to change that.”

Callum nodded at his wife’s words, knowing she was correct. He then leaned down and kissed her for a moment, thanking her for setting his head straight.

“Now, everyone will start to arrive in a few hours, and we need to make sure everything is ready.”

“Right.”

Taking her hand in his, Callum opened the door and led her out. The two would make this the best festival ever.


	11. Alternate Universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was all a dream.

Callum was checking over everything and making sure he hadn’t forgotten to pack something.

“Callum, let’s go.” He heard Rayla call from downstairs.

“Coming,” he called.

As the prince rushed out of the room, he failed to notice a small puddle at the top of the stairs. Stepping into the puddle, he lost his footing and began to tumble forward. His head struck the stairs and darkness filled him.

* * *

Dr. Carl Tolis awoke with a start, his face covered in sweat and heart beating loudly in his ears as he looked around the modest bedroom he shared with his wife.

“Sweetie? Sweetie?! Wake up! You won’t believe the dream I just had. Wanna hear about it?” he exclaimed as he turned on his bedside lamp.

Dr. Rachel Tolis tried to ignore her husband and get a few more precious hours of sleep. Unfortunately, he persisted. “Well, do you?”

“Fine, Carl. What did you dream about?”

“I was a prince in a medieval like fantasy setting.”

“Awesome. Now, good night.”

“It looked like it was based on that show the kids love to watch. What was it called? The Prince of Dragons, I think? Anyway, you were an elf who was trying to kill me, at first. My dad killed our boss. Your parents were your uncles for some reason.”

“That does it! No more meatloaf surprise before bed.”

“And you were a hell of a bad-ass.”

“Go to sleep, Carl.”

“Night, love,” he replied turning off the light and settling back down.

“Hold on,” Rachel said after a moment, “What do you mean, ‘hell of a bad-ass?’”

“Time for us to get some sleep, Rach. You know, you should see about wearing some more teal.”


	12. Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla decides to get Callum a gift.

Rayla sighed thoughtfully as she wandered around the bazaar. She felt like getting Callum a gift, so after finishing her duties, she left the castle and headed to the local bazaar to find a gift. However, there was one little problem…

_Callum is the worst person to shop for!_ Rayla thought as she left another stall.

None of the stalls seemed to have anything that her husband would like. Sure, she could get him a sketchbook, but he was very particular about his sketchbooks. The weight, binding, and paper quality were all factors to him in whether or not he would get a particular sketch book.

A weapon was even a worse gift to give. While he knew how to fight, Callum tried to avoid fighting whenever possible. If he had to fight, he used his magic and threw down spells that had his opponents running for their lives. A weapon was a better gift for her as she had a room in the castle dedicated to displaying her collection.

Leaving another stall, Rayla stopped as a new stall caught her eye. Walking up to it, she saw that it was selling something she had never seen before.

“Pardon me,” she called to the stall keeper. “What is this?” Rayla asked as she lifted the small cylindrical object.

“That is a pen, your highness. It’s a new invention from northern Duren. I came across them last month when visiting family and brought several back with me,” the woman behind the counter explained. “They work similar to charcoal sticks, but last far longer and use a special writing substance called ink; which can come is several colors.”

Rayla pondered for a moment; surely such a thing would make a good gift for Callum.

“How much?” Rayla asked the woman.

“One gold coin and that comes with your choice of two inks and a case.”

“Done!” she cried before the woman could change her mind.

Rayla quickly handed the coin over. She selected a beautiful ocean blue and bright emerald ink. She placed the pen in a polished wooden case and thanked the woman. Rayla then headed back to the castle, excited that she had found something she was sure Callum would love.


	13. Growth

“This sucks,” came a voice to his left.

“What sucks?” Callum asked, turning to look down at Rayla.

“This!” she replied, gesturing to their height difference. “When we met I was taller than you by two inches.”

“One inch, Rayla. Horns don’t count.”

“Yes, they do! Anyway, I was taller, but then I stopped growing at five feet nine inches. Meanwhile everyone else in my family is over six feet! Even you, Callum! You’re seven feet five inches, that’s nearly two feet above my height. I’m a freaking midget!”

“Okay, first, you aren’t a midget, you’re petite. Second, short or tall, you’re still beautiful to me. Third, I have no control over my height, that’s just random luck. Your height has never seemed to bother you before, so why now?”

“I overheard a couple of the kids talking the other day. They mentioned how they were close to my height and would soon be taller than me,” she admitted.

“Rayla, all of our kids could become taller than me and you know what?”

“Hmm?”

“They’re still going to have to call you mom and listen to you. So, they can go ahead and get as tall as they want to. It won’t change who’s in charge.”

“Thanks,” Rayla replied with a smile, wrapping her arm around her husband in a half hug as they continued their walk.


	14. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids are occupied and the city's okay. Time for a date night.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Callum asked his wife.

“We don’t have anything planned tonight. All of the kids are doing other things and everything for the city and Katolis has been caught up. So, we have a free night,” Rayla replied, her eyes wide at the realization.

“Ray, we haven’t had a free night, that we didn’t have to plan weeks in advance, in nearly seventeen years!”

“I know!” she responded, starting to get excited.

“We could do anything.”

“And no one would be able to get in our way until tomorrow!”

From their window, a cry arose from the city that seemed to resonate within their souls, “YEAH!!!”

“Date Night!” The two royals declared simultaneously.

As they were an unusual couple, their “dates” were just as odd as they were. As their lives required them to go so many places, when they found free time to be together the two loved staying in. They would dress in plain comfortable clothing, raid the kitchen for food, and spend hours talking about nothing.

So, it was no surprise, that twenty minutes later the two were on the floor of Callum’s study pigging out on some cake and wine they had found in the kitchen; the two wore simple peasant tunics and cotton pants. Callum was roaring with laughter at the massive belch his “picture perfect” wife had just released.

“Pardon me, but I needed that,” Rayla said, clearly not caring what anyone else thought.

“That was a good one.”

“Thank you! I am the best, you know.” She bowed slightly.

As the evening wore on the two talked about a number of subjects. Has Ez finally decided to settle down? Why does Earthblood honey taste so good? Is the gate guard finally going to propose to the nurse? Pirates vs. Assassins! And, their children.

“I love our kids,” Rayla admitted as she stared up at the ceiling from the floor, “but sometimes I don’t ‘get’ them.”

“Did anyone ‘get’ us?”

“True enough. In fact, I think some of the elders are still hoping I’ll leave you. But! That’s not the point! The other day Bernard came up to me and started to talk about how he wanted to bring his date over. Everything seems to be going fine, but he ends it with, ‘Please mom don’t do any of your usual weird stuff.’ Boy! I used to clean you and get puked on by you, don’t talk to me about weird.”

Callum chuckled softly, agreeing with her. “Well, no one’s here. What do you say we do some weird stuff?”

“Let’s go dummy,” she replied heading for the door with the bottle of wine in her hand.

* * *

Sarai rounded the corner, on her way to her room, and stopped at what she saw before her. Lying on the hall couch were here parents, her mom atop her dad. Though she was confused as to why they were sleeping in the hallway, she was more confused as to why they were using a plant as a blanket.

The young princess decided it was probably for the best she didn’t wake them, and continued on her way. As she turned to leave she said softly, “I don’t get them at all.”


	15. Timeskip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything must one day end, but even in ending there are new beginnings.

All journeys come to an end.

This was a fundamental truth of life itself; however, knowing this did little to change how Rayla felt. She didn’t want this to happen. The archduchess was in her bedroom, sitting in a chair next to her bed as Callum, her husband of a hundred and three years was dying.

Connecting to all six primal sources of magic had extended his life, but humans could only live for so long, his own brother having passed away two decades ago. Now, at one hundred twenty-one, it was his time.

Time or not, though, Rayla didn’t want this to come to pass. Just a few years ago, her husband was still the impressive mountain of a man he had always been; studying magic, watching over their city, spending time with his family. Even months ago, he was perfectly healthy and enjoying life. Now, Callum lay in their bed a mere shell of the man he once was. But still, Rayla could not part from him. Callum was her other half; once he went, she would no longer be complete.

“Rayla,” came Callum’s tired, weathered voice, snapping her from her thoughts, as he placed his fragile hand atop her own. “Don’t be sad, my life with you has been the best I could have ever hoped for. I enjoyed every moment with you. The tears, the laughter, the yelling, and the love, meant more to me than any thing else this world could offer. Even though I’m leaving you now our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren still need you. I love you, Rayla.

With a final breath, Callum, Archduke of Katolis, passed from the land of the living.

Rayla continued to hold her husband’s hand. Only once the little bit of warmth started to fade did the tears pour from her eyes.

“But I need you Callum,” she replied in a soft quiet voice. At a hundred and twenty-two, Rayla was just entering middle age for Moonshadow elves and looked like a human woman in her early thirties might look.

She turned her gaze to Callum’s peaceful face and said, “I’m pregnant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was loosely inspired by a story my step-father told me, who heard it from his father. His father knew a man, who kept himself very healthy and active. When the man was 70, he looked like he was in his 40s. At 78, he married his 3rd wife, a woman in her 30s. However, just after turning 87 his health started to plummet and in 3 weeks he had passed. On the day he died, his wife learned she was pregnant.


	16. Rayla's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla enjoys a relaxing birthday with her husband

Rayla moaned, her body writhing in pleasure. “If I knew you barbaric humans could do this, I would have made you mine so much sooner,” she said with a glazed look in her eyes as she stared at the ceiling.

“I think this is just a me thing, dear,” Callum replied as continued to massage Rayla’s foot while she relaxed in their tub.

Now, normally, Rayla presented herself as a strong woman and she was. The Moonshadow elf had never really embraced the lavish princess lifestyle when she married Callum. Instead, she chose to use her position to help. In fact, she often defended her guards when traveling. Under her tutelage, the guards of Hartho were some of the most disciplined guard on either side of the Breach, and currently the city was in the process of opening the first military academy outside of the capital city. Rayla also oversaw the formation of the city’s first public education system. Every child was taught to read, write, and speak in multiple languages, as well as mathematics, geography, history, survival, etiquette, dance, and smithing. The system was regarded as a success and was soon to be the standard across the kingdom.

One would be surprised to discover that she did allow herself to indulge in luxury one day a year, her birthday. Or rather, she allowed her husband to pamper her all day. Foot rubs, wine, a hot tub, foreign chocolates, Earthblood honey, and poems read to her by her sweet husband. Oh, if life could get better than this, she’d break the arms of the idiot stupid enough to tell her.

“Well then,” she said, turning her gaze to Callum as she lifted her long slender leg that wasn’t in Callum’s grasp out of the water, “it’s a good thing I snatched you first,” she finished as she ran her foot along the stubble of her husband’s cheek.

Callum grabbed her foot and held it to his cheek. “You’ve always had me. No one can compare to you.”

As his wife sank her blushing face beneath the water, Callum smirked, happy in the knowledge that he could still make his wife blush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the various one-shots. Please leave a review and let me know if you'd like to read these in more detail.
> 
> I'm thinking of writing either a very long story or a series of stories involving several of these prompts. The main prompts I plan to use are Travel and In-laws. Anniversary, Mistakes, Cooking, Nightmare, Dancing, Written in the Stars, Callum and Rayla's Birthday, Domesticity, Gift, Growth, and Date Night will also be used in slightly minor roles.  
> I'll also, be expanding the characters past Rayla, Callum, and their kids. Also, the kids will have a lot more written about them, so they seem less flat. I think I'll be pumping the rating up too. This way, I can be a lot more detailed in certain scenes.
> 
> If you are interested in reading more, I should have the first chapter posted by late August or early September.


End file.
